Whole-Cell Fatty Acid Composition of Total Coliforms to Predict Sources of Fecal Contamination
Publication: Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 131, Issue 10
Abstract
The objective of this study was to test the hypothesis that total coliforms isolated from human and nonhuman sources have distinctly different whole-cell fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) profiles. The FAME profiles studied included total coliforms isolated from sewage; feces of livestock, including bovine (dairy cattle), poultry, and swine; and feces of wildlife, including waterfowl and deer. Multiple samples within each category were collected and 303 total coliform isolates were cultured. It was found that the FAMEs 12:0 2OH and 14:0 2OH were exclusively associated with sewage samples, whereas the FAMEs 18:0 and 19:0 ISO were identified only in isolates from the livestock samples. In addition to the presence of signature FAMEs, the average relative masses of 16:1 , 18:1 , and 19:0 CYCLO were significantly different between human and nonhuman sources of total coliforms. A linear discriminant function based on these differences discriminated total coliform isolates of human origin against the other five host categories at a 77% rate of correct classification (RCC). These results strongly support the validity of our hypothesis and suggest that the FAME profiles of total coliforms have the potential to be used as a phenotypic microbial source tracking (MST) tool for predicting the sources of microbial contamination in water environments.
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Acknowledgment
This work was sponsored in part by the Office of Research and Sponsored Projects of Villanova University. The authors are grateful to Mr. Donald Cairns (Cairns Farm), Dr. Thomas D. Parsons and Mr. Mark Lewis (University of Pennsylvania, Swine Teaching and Research Facility), Mr. James Tatro and his students (Walter Biddle Saul High School of Agricultural Sciences), Mr. Eric Stoltz of Valley Forge Sewage Authority, and the staff of Phoenixville Sewage Treatment Plant for their assistance in sample collection.
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Published In
Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 131 • Issue 10 • October 2005
Pages: 1426 - 1432
Copyright
© 2005 ASCE.
History
Received: Oct 21, 2004
Accepted: Jan 27, 2005
Published online: Oct 1, 2005
Published in print: Oct 2005
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